Words That Weaken Your Resume

Most resume resources will go into great detail about words and phrases that make your resume stronger, but many of them do not give examples of the words and phrases that have the opposite effect. How can you avoid words that weaken your resume if you are unsure what they are?

Let's take look at some of the most common statements that job seekers put into their resumes that weaken their content rather than strengthen it.

How to Prepare and Give a Good Impression at a Job Interview

Preparing for an interview should be the most important aspect of a career. In fact it is so important that you should always prepare for an interview, no matter the stage you are in at the particular point in your career. However, it even becomes more important when you are a first timer, fresh out of college with no professional experience whatsoever to boast about. It doesn’t really matter whether you have had a lot of experience from going from one interview to the next; the following tips on an interview should help you out in that decision. At first glance, you would need to thoroughly impress your examiners in such a way that they would give you the job without further hassles and fretting.

5 Reasons You Didn't Get the Job

With the unemployment rate still very high in the Nigeria, you may find yourself in the position of applying, interviewing, and still remaining jobless. You may have thought it was a sure thing; you may have left the office laughing and joking with the interviewer. So why was someone else hired and you weren't? These five reasons may shed some light on the situation.

1. You're overqualified
It's not just a cliche--you really can be overqualified for a position. It's especially true in a tight economy. A candidate that is more qualified would require a higher salary and benefits package for a competitive offer and for long-term retention. If someone else interviewed who fit the qualifications but didn't overly exceed them, it might be in the company's best interest to hire him and save the cash.

Ways To Be Indispensable In Your Job

You want to make yourself indispensable at job? You want to duck the tide of lay offs during the time of recession? We are passing through hard times and instead of hiring, firing has become the norm for companies. So How to protect your job at this time? How to make yourself indispensable? Try to follow some simple steps. 

Take Account of Your Strengths and Weaknesses: Making yourself indispensable at job requires you to make some analysis of yourself, your strengths and weaknesses. Taking stock of your strengths and weaknesses will help you narrowing down your area of expertise. And you will know for sure where you can excel and others can notice you too. Devise two plans for yourself, long term and short term.

Look for Broader Picture: If you are working for a company, make some changes in your attitude too. Instead of seeing things from a narrow perspective try to take into account the overall picture of your company. That will help you in taking right decision for the company. It will increase your understating and you can come out with right kind of solutions to your problems. Update Your Knowledge Base: You are responsible for your career advancement. No one else come to do so during recession time. Develop your knowledge base that might prove beneficial for your company. Take part time courses to update your skills and knowledge base. 

Develop Problem Solving Skills: Every company requires this skill. Normally employees fret and fume over problems or suggest ways how this problem can’t be solved. But instead going for this self indulgence, try to gather materials regarding the area you are working in. Read how other companies have faced similar problems and how they solved it. This will enrich your problem solving skills and you might find completely new solutions to the problems your company is facing.

Suggest Ways to Cut Down Expenses: This is an endearing quality of employees. Every company wants to minimize expenses and maximize profits. If you know of some ways to cut down expenses don’t keep it to yourself. Suggest it during meetings and give it in written to the concerned person.

Don’t Encroach on Others Rights: While enriching your knowledge base and self improvement you should not send out signals that you are out to do two peoples job. This will create negative feeling for you among your peers and rumor mongers can unleash their full force against you. Instead of sending feelers that you can do others jobs too, try filling the gaps that nobody is looking at or even aware that these shortcomings. If you deals with data, try to arrange it in such manner that even non-technical person can be able to find out what he is looking for. If you deal with recruitment, find out the efficient pool of candidates in less expensive manner.

Good Salesmanship: This need is required by everyone, be it an artist, self employed entrepreneurs or the president of a country. Don’t expect that you keep on providing excellent services and others will naturally take notice of you. You have to show the results of your hard work to the concerned persons. If your policies resulted in cost savings prepare a balance sheet and show it to the concerned person.

Be Good at What Your Boss is Weak At: Think of your boss’s weaknesses. He/she might be good at something but not at other things. Pay attention to his weaknesses and try to do that work yourself. Your boss might not be good at writing proposals but he might be good at pointing what is lacking in a proposal. To speed up the work, you can draw the first copy of the proposal and your boss will finalize it by pointing out what else should be incorporated in the existing copy. That will save time of the both.

Develop a Brand for the Company You Work: It doesn’t mean that you take over your brand manager. It simply means be your company’s spokesperson whenever the need arises. But your superiors too should know of your efforts. Making yourself indispensable at the job is not difficult at all. You have to keep your eyes and ears open. You have the knack to sense opportunity and making the most of it.

How To Remain Positive While Jobless

Rejection, especially in this job market, is an unavoidable reality. You won’t win every time. It’s okay been disappointed, for a minute, but set a limit and move on. Part of job search success requires self evaluation. It’s important to recognize the possibility you might be doing something wrong and, if so, to be open to positive change. If you’ve been on the hunt for a while and you feel like you’re getting nowhere, consider asking your recent interviewers and peers for constructive criticism. Be prepared for the sugar-coated version, but at least you will gain some perspective on what you may be able to change for future interviews.

10 Trickiest Interview Questions

Does it seem as though some job interview questions are designed to trip you up?
It should, because they are. Here are 10 of the trickiest tricky questions you might be asked at a job interview, with ideas on how to handle them:

[Scholarships 2011.]

1. “Tell me about yourself.”
•DO: Talk about the ways that what you know and what you can do are perfectly suited to this job.
•DON’T: Tell the interviewer your life story.
2. “Tell me something bad you’ve heard about our company.”
•DO: You wouldn’t apply for a job at a company you disapproved of, would you? So you should be able to honestly answer that you haven’t heard anything negative about this place.
•DON’T: Repeat gossip you might have heard.
3. “Why should I hire you?”
•DO: Impress your interviewer with how much you know about the company’s requirements and then describe how you are the best person to meet those requirements.
•DON’T: Get tripped up by a lack of prior research.
4. “Where do you see yourself in five years?”
•DO: Talk about how your specific abilities, training, and experience will enable you to smoothly integrate with this company.
•DON’T: Say that you have no idea.
5. “How would you react if I told you your interview so far was terrible?”
•DO: Recognize that this is a test to see if you get flustered. Say, mildly, that you would ask for reasons why.
•DON’T: Freak out. Remember, the interviewer said “if.”

How to Answer the Salary Question during Interview

We all want to be honest and forthcoming in an interview. So when the question “What are you making now?” or “What kind of salary are you looking for?” comes up, it’s tempting to just cite a
number or a range and move forward – but try to resist the urge. If you reveal your salary expectations too early in the process, you lose two big opportunities:
1. The opportunity to make them love you before they know your price.
2. The opportunity to demonstrate your ability to handle an uncomfortable situation confidently and respectfully, without caving (a prized skill in most jobs).

6 Reasons You Won’t Get Hired Without a Cover Letter

Without a cover letter, you’re relying solely on your resume to make a big enough impact that the hiring manager will call you back for an interview. That’s asking a lot. From demonstrating your communication skills to keeping the follow-up ball in your court, a cover letter can strengthen your candidacy and increase your odds of landing an interview. Here are 6 valid reasons why a cover letter is absolutely necessary:

It tells the employer who you are and why they want you.
Yes, the Objective or Professional Summary on your resume also does this, but only in so many words. In the body of the letter, you have the room to elaborate on your experiences and interest in the position.
It showcases your writing ability.
Resumes have strict formulas with bullet points and short, choppy statements. A cover letter allows you to write more fluently. Since employers like to see that you can communicate well in writing, a proper cover letter puts the right foot forward from the get-go.

Setting Freelance Writing Rates for Online Writing Jobs

If you're a new freelancer who's simply trying out the feeling of online writing jobs; knowing how to charge can be a bit perplexing. I mean, do you charge by the hour, by the job, by the project, by the word - how? Setting your freelance writing rates doesn't have to be so hard though. All you need is to know what to do.
Following are some tips to help you charge enough so that you're not working for pennies - which is what so many newbies do.

Three Tips for Setting Freelance Writing Rates for Online Writing Jobs Ask Questions: Get as much info up front from clients as you can. Why? Because time is your greatest asset as an online writer. The longer it takes you to churn out a piece, the more it's "costing" you if you're not charging enough. So, find out as much from clients as you can, eg, will they supply keywords, how many words should the piece be, do they expect you to do some social media posting in addition to writing the content, do they want you to include anchor text in your copy, etc. Each and every one of these factors adds more time to each piece you write.

Questions Commonly Asked in Interview; Careers Tips on Jobs

Questions Commonly Asked in Interviews - Tell Me about Yourself

Most times when preparing for interviews, this is what you will likely be asked as a fresh graduate or as an experienced candidate. The way interviewers frame the question may slightly be different from one another but ultimately them mean the same thing. The questions may sound like these:

• Can we meet you?
• Quickly introduce yourself.
• Tell me about yourself.

These are most frequently asked questions in any interview; a question you may not avoid and traditionally it comes at the beginning of an interview. Therefore, if you know that the interviewer will definitely ask you this question, it gives you an opportunity to think ahead of what your answer to the question will be. Experts advise that you should be careful about this so that it will not sound as if the answer is rehearsed. Your answer should flow naturally. Remember that this is a chance for you to make a good first impression about yourself. Your answer should be short and well articulated.

After mentioning your names, interviewers expect to hear about what you have done in the past. If you are an experienced candidate, you will possibly have some achievements that if you start mentioning all of them, if might take too long time. What are expected at this point are those specific things you have done that are related to the position you are applying for. Chronologically, you start from the farthest to the present. While recounting the things you have done, if you start fidgeting, this may betray your claims. Ordinarily, candidates are expected to be confident. Therefore, learn how to stay calm.

Before you go for the interview, if you are not sure about how you can adequately answer this question, there is nothing stopping you from asking your friend or an experienced person to act as the interviewer. If the person is objective, he will be able to assess you and offer necessary advice on where you need to improve. Remember that this is the question you may not avoid in any interview. Make it a plus to your assessment.

Before You Change Job: Career Tips on Jobs

People generally have the belief that when one changes job, he must be growing career wise. This is not always the case. If you are thinking about changing your jobs, there are certain things you need to know or resolve. This article is to provide a sort of checklists for you so that you can assess whether your decision to leave your current job is worthwhile or not.